Why are Irish people so stingy?

amadangomor

breezy1985 wrote: »

Would be nice to know what country that story is from. Any chance you could narrow half of Europe down a little for us

The woman is from Lithuania.

breezy1985

amadangomor wrote: »

The woman is from Lithuania.

Could have just said Lithuanian friend then

amadangomor

breezy1985 wrote: »

Could have just said Lithuanian friend then

The story was quite specific and I know it's unlikely they would be reading this but didn't want to be specific on the country just in case.

Irish cageyness

Mad_maxx

irish people are not near stingy enough , we are incredibly wasteful with money , my other half hates not having the lights on in the house from morning until night , i was raised to see turning on the light as a waste unless its dark outside

kiwis are incredibly tight with money , deep presbyterian streak in that nation of course

protestants are famously careful with money compared to catholics

Mad_maxx

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

In Ireland - Kerry folk are stingiest.

Germans in my experience are lets just say extremely efficient with their money. (tight as ****)

Kerry people are the second greediest people in the country ( Dingle is the worst town in the country for gouging ) , galway folk are slightly ahead of them , everything in galway costs more , tradesmen are the rip of merchant kings here

costs about 40% more for a short break in Kerry compared to Donegal, the reason being that Donegal rely on tight ulster protestants for much of their custom, plus the yankee dollar is more used to visiting the south than the north west

breezy1985

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Kerry people are the second greediest people in the country , galway folk are slightly ahead of them , everything in galway costs more , tradesmen are the rip of merchant kings here

costs about 40% more for a short break in Kerry compared to Donegal, the reason being that Donegal rely on tight ulster protestants for much of their custom, plus the yankee dollar is more used to visiting the south than the north west

That's cause all the tradesmen in Galway are "artisan"

Mad_maxx

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

I've noticed this.

There was a Dutch guy i went to college with. He was now a LOVELY guy would do anything for anyone. However he used to take free ketchup salt sugar and vinegar packets from the canteen home with him. It was his thing. He would stuff 30 packs in his pockets. Cycled everywhere rather than pay bus fare .or a taxi..even at 2 in the morning.

brother in law of mine rented in the Netherlands for a few years while working for a dutch company , when he was handed the keys from the landlord , the place was bare , landlord even took the light bulbs out of every room

hurleronditch

Mad_maxx wrote: »

brother in law of mine rented in the Netherlands for a few years while working for a dutch company , when he was handed the keys from the landlord , the place was bare , landlord even took the light bulbs out of every room

I can see the headlines in the papers now: "Unfurnished apartment gets rented out unfurnished"

murpho999

partyguinness wrote: »

I have Dutch in laws as my sister is married to a Dutch guy. TBH I have never seen any meanness. In fact the wedding in Holland had a free bar all night.

That's not Dutch generosity really but just the way weddings are there. They get a package per person too rather than pay for drinks.

Also, they wouldn't be drinking the way Irish people would.

It's also quite normal at a lot of Dutch weddings to be invited to a wedding. Go to the ceremony but be excluded from the meal.

So you'd have to go off somewhere yourself and then come back later for the party.

murpho999

hurleronditch wrote: »

I can see the headlines in the papers now: "Unfurnished apartment gets rented out unfurnished"

Light bulbs are not furniture.

When I bought a house there the previous owners had taken all the light sockets with them so there was just wires coming out through every ceiling. That wouldn't happen here.

Fred Cryton

We have some of the highest marginal tax rates in the world, which pay some of the highest welfare rates in the world to an entire class of people (welfare class).

There is zero actual poverty in Ireland. If you can't survive on €200 a week, you are the problem. If its spent on drink and drugs, that's your problem. There is no need for charity in this country. None.

The same cannot be said for the UK and US which have much lower welfare rates than here, so charity is required.

murpho999

Fred Cryton wrote: »

We have some of the highest marginal tax rates in the world, which pay some of the highest welfare rates in the world to an entire class of people (welfare class).

There is zero actual poverty in Ireland. If you can't survive on €200 a week, you are the problem. If its spent on drink and drugs, that's your problem. There is no need for charity in this country. None.

The same cannot be said for the UK and US which have much lower welfare rates than here, so charity is required.

A lot of what you say above isn't true and I doubt I could survive on €200 a week and I have no addiction issues .

But apart form that what's anything you say got to do with people being mean?

radiata

Canadians are the tightest shower of baxtards I've ever come across

bear1

Are we?
I went shopping in Dunnes the other day and got the 10e voucher for having spent over 50e.
I was leaving the country a day or so later and didn't need it.
As I was walking to my car there was a person getting out of theirs right next to me.
I asked if he shopped in Dunnes and then handed him the voucher.
He was happy and I felt a good deed had been done.
So I wouldn't tarnish us all with the same brush.

breezy1985

radiata wrote: »

Canadians are the tightest shower of baxtards I've ever come across

Didn't find them tight just too boring to actually do anything with their money

440Hertz

Mad_maxx wrote: »

protestants are famously careful with money compared to catholics

You haven’t met many Bavarians then!

JustAThought

POLiSH PEOPLS ARE THE MEANEST MOST STINGY NATIONALITY in Europe. they beat the Dutch, Germans and Brits combined. I have never seen such a mean nation - or is it just the poor ones that come to work here and so every decision they make is underpinned by cost ? I worked with some, and used go out with them & their circle. Mother of God - they would agree to meet in a busy city centre bar and then sit on their hands for N hour while the place
was rammed with people just waiting for someone else to order - and pay. Same when it came to reserving a restaurant - they would turn up, sit on their hands and say they wern’t hungry but expect the restaurant to let them sit there and have rhe craic while only 2 out of 8 or 10 ordered food and they all then chipped in to ‘taste’ it. What pissed me iff most was their acceptance of meals paid for and rounds but God forbid they ever extend their hand out to offer you a chip from
their take-away. The meanest nation ever. Decent people, a lovely hardworking nation but my God - all take and no give and zero public generosity. All about their own cars and assets and needs but never spend a penny. It must come from all those years of communism and empty food shelves and poverty. Shocking mean nation. But hardworking.

pgj2015

JustAThought wrote: »

POLiSH PEOPLS ARE THE MEANEST MOST STINGY NATIONALITY in Europe. they beat the Dutch, Germans and Brits combined. I have never seen such a mean nation - or is it just the poor ones that come to work here and so every decision they make is underpinned by cost ? I worked with some, and used go out with them & their circle. Mother of God - they would agree to meet in a busy city centre bar and then sit on their hands for N hour while the place
was rammed with people just waiting for someone else to order - and pay. Same when it came to reserving a restaurant - they would turn up, sit on their hands and say they wern’t hungry but expect the restaurant to let them sit there and have rhe craic while only 2 out of 8 or 10 ordered food and they all then chipped in to ‘taste’ it. What pissed me iff most was their acceptance of meals paid for and rounds but God forbid they ever extend their hand out to offer you a chip from
their take-away. The meanest nation ever. Decent people, a lovely hardworking nation but my God - all take and no give and zero public generosity. All about their own cars and assets and needs but never spend a penny. It must come from all those years of communism and empty food shelves and poverty. Shocking mean nation. But hardworking.

I get a good tip 99% of the time I deal with a polish customer of mine so I have to disagree. you cant say a nationality is stingy. like some Irish people are very generous and some are miserable with money. I come across a fair few tight Irish people who have money, they would make you sick how tight they are. people who dont have much tend to be most generous in my experience.
People from poor/rough areas are more generous than middle or upper class people.

440Hertz

There are definitely national cultural differences on dealing with and talking about money.

In Ireland in general, in my experience, being seen to be mean is a terrible thing and we aren’t price sensitive at all across a whole range of areas. I spent time living in France and it’s fairly similar, on the price sensitivity attitude.

Talking about money in Ireland is also a bit of a faux pas and it’s the same in France. Whereas in the US I’ve been asked straight out how much I earn, what I paid in rent, how much I paid for various things.

In both Ireland and France that would be considered extremely pushy / rude and uncomfortable.

Most people don’t know what their friends make. I would suspect in Ireland a % of the population wouldn’t even be entirely sure what they make themselves. It’s more like if you’ve enough coming in it’s grand and if not, you start counting.

As they say in France, sex is a less awkward topic than money.

Being flashy with the cash is also considered pretty vile in Ireland, France and the U.K. - you can do it, but you know everyone will hate you.

They won’t be saying “OMG! He’s so great and so wealthy and look at his lovely golden comb over and giant palatial house - what a great role model for us all!” They’ll be going “stuck up bas****! Who does he think he is? Ce mec n'est qu'un crétin arrogant! The state of him!!”

If you have money, you still play it down somewhat and if you don’t have it, nobody will ever ask. Sure people have big houses and stuff, but it’s very often not very showy compared to the USA & in France it’ll be down a lane, behind a hedge, behind another hedge and deliberately a bit tumble down.

We also value people a lot more than just on money. How many of our national treasures are mad bankrupt artsy types?

On the price sensitivity thing - Germans and Americans know the price of everything. On average Irish, French and British shoppers don’t, or only have a vague idea of it.

In all 3 cultures the concept of bargaining down a price is a bit “ewww” too, so it rarely happens outside of a few very narrow contexts, whereas the Americans will try haggling.

Then you’ve snob value. How many of us would feel better having spent more money than less?

I’ve seen both in Ireland & France discounts offered and rejected because someone felt the price was unfairly low for a small business. That would probably never ever happen in my experience of the US.

Attitudes to money do vary enormously between countries and cultures and it absolutely possible to generalise as it’s a purely cultural thing.

PhilOssophy

So, after 8 pages every nation has been called stingy, and the claim has been rebuked for every country.
Every country has tight-arses, every country has people who are stupid with their money.
I don't like a big round because I'm a slower drinker than most and hate trying to keep up. But I especially hate people who never buy the first round, or who disappear when their round comes. Don't join a round if you don't want to buy your own.
Neither borrower nor lender be.

But the thread is nonsense. Every country has both extremes.

fonecrusher1

PhilOssophy wrote: »

So, after 8 pages every nation has been called stingy, and the claim has been rebuked for every country.
Every country has tight-arses, every country has people who are stupid with their money.
I don't like buying rounds round because I'm a slower drinker than most and hate trying to keep up. But I especially hate people who never buy the first round, or who disappear when their round comes. Don't join a round if you don't want to buy your own.
Neither borrower nor lender be.

But the thread is nonsense. Every country has both extremes.

You sound like some tight arse yourself.

murpho999

PhilOssophy wrote: »

So, after 8 pages every nation has been called stingy, and the claim has been rebuked for every country.
Every country has tight-arses, every country has people who are stupid with their money.
I don't like a big round because I'm a slower drinker than most and hate trying to keep up. But I especially hate people who never buy the first round, or who disappear when their round comes. Don't join a round if you don't want to buy your own.
Neither borrower nor lender be.

But the thread is nonsense. Every country has both extremes.

You need to go to your settings and control panel and adjust posts per page setting as I'm only on 3 pages.

Also the thread is not nonsense as attitudes to money and it's value and spending of it is a cultural thing.

You don't have to look at the extreme cases but the norms and they vary from country to country.

SnowyMay

Irish people are definitely not stingy in the main. We may have barely enough to pay the rent, but be damned if we would not have a debate with a friend over who gets to pay for the tea. That Father Ted sketch didn't come out of thin air.

I've lived in a few European places (yes, lived, not visited), and it's a different mindset. Not saying that it's wrong, but if somebody offers to pay, and you say - no, I've got it - they'll say ok, and go on about their lives. Whereas we'd be secretly shoving a €50 into their bag if they paid.

PhilOssophy

murpho999 wrote: »

You need to go to your settings and control panel and adjust posts per page setting as I'm only on 3 pages.

Also the thread is not nonsense as attitudes to money and it's value and spending of it is a cultural thing.

You don't have to look at the extreme cases but the norms and they vary from country to country.

The exact same profile of tight ar5ses and big spenders exists in most countries. I don't think Ireland is any different than any other country! As you see above, every country has "Oh I knew a miser from there" to be responded to with "oh I had a different experience".

Its like that thread about the worst towns in Ireland where every town is named.

Yes, the thread is BS.

PhilOssophy

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

You sound like some tight arse yourself.

Yep, well done on editing my original post in your reply. Is that the level of your intelligence?

fonecrusher1

PhilOssophy wrote: »

Yep, well done on editing my original post in your reply. Is that the level of your intelligence?

Ah cheer up there Phil its Afterhours. If you do or don't want to buy rounds that's your own business. No big deal.

Necro

Mod:

fonecrusher1 and PhilOssophy, that's enough. No need for the petty jibing.

amadangomor

Mad_maxx wrote: »

irish people are not near stingy enough , we are incredibly wasteful with money , my other half hates not having the lights on in the house from morning until night , i was raised to see turning on the light as a waste unless its dark outside

kiwis are incredibly tight with money , deep presbyterian streak in that nation of course

protestants are famously careful with money compared to catholics

The four Italian tourists sitting at the best table for 3 hours in a pub sharing one pint would disagree.

murpho999

PhilOssophy wrote: »

The exact same profile of tight ar5ses and big spenders exists in most countries. I don't think Ireland is any different than any other country! As you see above, every country has "Oh I knew a miser from there" to be responded to with "oh I had a different experience".

Its like that thread about the worst towns in Ireland where every town is named.

Yes, the thread is BS.

Well I mentioned the Netherlands earlier as I have a lot of experience with the country and its people.

In general people are more careful with money there.

I'm not talking about individuals but as a whole. Of course there are mean and generous people everywhere but there's also a culture.

I've seen Dutch people in restaurants working out a group bill to the cent as to who had what and making sure people paid the exact amount. Happened to me several times with different groups.

Never seen it happen in Ireland, bill would generally be split evenly between the group unless it was really unfair on someone.

Also, when it come to presents at Christmas or birthdays, you will see that Dutch presents would be way less that what you may get in Ireland.

It's a completely different mindset and culture and not just about individual meanness or generosity that you keep banging on about.

partyguinness

We know a German couple in their 50s. Lovely couple and firends with my wife's family for decades. In fact the father (still alive) was German POW in England and befriended my wife's grandmother.

As I said, lovely couple. They visit at least once a year and bring us chocolate as gifts- a single bar of chocolate from Aldi...as in Aldi's own brand.

To be fair we really don't care about it or expect or want any gifts we know them so long they are considered alomost family but Jaysus why would you bother.